Tofu

Bean curd; tahu. See SOYA BEAN. A thick curd made from soya ‘milk’, very nutritious, very bland in taste and texture but delicious when cooked with flavours that it readily absorbs. Fresh tofu is sold in many Asian shops, certainly in all that deal in Chinese or Japanese foodstuffs; it is packed and stored in cold water, and must be stored in the fridge and used within 3 days at most. Branded fresh tofu is now manufactured and distributed in UK supermarkets (e.g. Cauldron brand, which may be ‘original’ or ‘smoked’); this, too, has a limited fridge life. Fried tofu is sold in Japanese and some other Asian shops. You can also make your own by deep-frying cubes of plain tofu, about 2.5 cm/1 inch on a side, until the surface is slightly browned. The inside remains white and soft. Fried tofu from a shop may be rather oily. Remove excess oil by pouring water over the cubes and lightly pressing or patting them with absorbent paper. Deep-fried tofu can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, but not frozen.